FILE/A 1920s era aerial view of Shelter Island, Margate’s preferred location for dredge materials.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – The city is moving closer to obtaining a citywide permit to dredge the backbay, which has become filled with silt and is dangerous to boaters. The project will not only improve safety but will also preserve real estate values along the bayfront, officials said.
On April 7, the Board of Commissioners awarded a $74,199 contract to Stockton University Coastal Research Center to perform core samplings, a requirement of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If granted, the permits will not only allow the city to implement a dredging program over a 5- or 10-year period, but it will also cover private homeowners who want to dredge their lagoons.
According to city engineer Ed Dennis Jr. of Remington & Vernick Engineers, approval to dredge Beach Thorofare is dependent upon obtaining satisfactory core samples that would allow the city to place dredge materials in a hole in Shelter Island, which is jointly owned by Ventnor and Margate, or another site preferred by the NJDEP. Ventnor City has signed off on Margate’s request to use Shelter Island and will retain space in the hole if Ventnor ever needs to dispose of dredge materials.
Dennis said that the city’s grant coordinator, James Rutala will determine if additional funding is available from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to restore habitat in the 30-foot deep hole, which is now devoid of marine life. The resiliency concept is that filling the hole will create a new habitat where fish and other marine life can thrive.
The Coastal Research Center will collect core samples 6 feet below mean low water at 41 locations in six sub-zones where dredging is planned and send them to a Pennsylvania lab for testing. Stockton will then compile the report needed for the permitting process.
A breakdown of the cost includes $38,324 payable to Stockton and $35,875 for ALS Testing Laboratory in Pennsylvania.
The information will be sent to the NJDEP and ACE for approval.
The city first started its effort to obtain a dredging permit in 2015.
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